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Friday, May 20, 2011

At the Festival de Cannes, the 43rd Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors' Fortnight) sidebar announced their award winners today.

Les Géants (The Giants) by Bouli Lanners was the big winner, picking up both the Prix SACD given by the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers) for best French-language title and also the CICAE's Art Cinema Award presented by the Confédération Internationnale des Cinémas d'Art et d'Essai (International Confederation of Art Cinemas). Les Géants is a comedic coming-of-age story about two brothers left to fend for themselves one summer at their grandfather's house. It hasn't screened yet, as it is the closing night film for the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.

The winner of the Europa Cinemas Label for best European film in the selection was Atmen (Breathing) by Karl Markovic. It is also a coming-of age story but darker in tone, about a delinquent teen who finds work in a morgue.

The Séance "Coup de coeur" prize went to Ruben Östlund's Play. Also a story about youths, Play is based on real incidents of bullying that occurred a few years ago.
The jurors for the Société des
Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD) were Laurent Heynemann,
Gerard Krawczyk, Christine Laurent, Benjamin
Legrand and Bertrand Tavernier. The jury for the Europa Cinemas Label consisted of Vincent Paul-Boncour, Barbora Drobná, Elena Mascioli and Mary Nazari.